The present invention relates to a device system for military and/or humanitarian operations, and in particular to a mobile decontamination system designed for at least one of radioactive decontamination, disinfection and detoxification.
A prior art device system is, for example, a decontamination system called DECOCONTAIN 3000 GDS available from the company Kärcher Futuretech GmbH, which has its headquarters in 71409 Schwaikheim, Germany.
This prior art decontamination system is a typical example of a device system for military or humanitarian operations. It contains a plurality of power-operated units, such as one or more pumps, an aerosol generator, heaters and control devices, and also a plurality of accessory parts, such as spray lances or tubes, and a plurality of operating supplies, such as decontaminants in particular. The units, accessory parts and operating supplies determine and delimit the functional scope, which is typically defined by the buyers and users of a system of this type within the scope of a tender and/or on the basis of a list of requirements. The overall arrangement of the units, accessory parts and operating supplies is generally so heavy in the case of such systems that the systems can only be brought to their place of use by suitable transport means, such as a heavy goods vehicle or a helicopter. Such device systems are very often constructed in containers which conform to ISO standard 668 for sea freight containers. The containers are then anchored to the transport vehicles. The device systems are often used from the container and from the transport vehicle, but in principle could also be used remote from the transport vehicle.
One challenge for the manufacturers of such device systems therefore lies in housing a functional scope requested by the user within a spatial volume likewise specified by the user. By way of example, the spatial volume may be dependent on the maximum dimensions and weights that can be transported by a particular transport vehicle. The device systems are generally matched to the specific user requirements, which results in a high development and production outlay with comparatively small quantities. In particular, the optimal spatial planning for a new device system continues to pose a number of great challenges to the manufacturer.
The above-mentioned decontamination system DECOCONTAIN 3000 GDS is constructed in a 20 foot ISO container. A plurality of supporting columns is fastened within the container and forms a retaining structure for the heavy units. The position of the individual supporting columns within the container is determined by the spatial arrangement of the units, accessory parts and operating supplies within the container and by structural conditions. If a user wishes to modify the functional scope, for example because said user wishes to decontaminate a greater number of temperature-sensitive small parts per hour, this often requires a fundamental re-build of the system.
DE 103 45 351 A1 describes another mobile decontamination system in which function-determining units, accessory parts and operating supplies are housed in transportable containers. The details of the retaining structure in the containers are only partially visible in the drawings. In principle, however, this case too relates to a device system in which the spatial arrangement of the individual components in the containers has been individually developed in accordance with a predefined functional scope.
Further mobile decontamination systems are disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 2010/0299826 A1 and WO 03/046314 A1. These systems as well have a container in which the function-determining components are individually housed.